Jeopardy and the Princess
by Arch1medes
Summary: What could happen when Hazard and Lizzie meet again, after seven years? The story of their meeting, and what happens after.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok guys, I meant to post this like five minutes after the intro, but I forgot I had to go camping. My mental calendar is still all screwed up from summer, ok? Anyways, This is a larger chapter, with the embedded intro for emphasis and such, which should give an improved view on the story. Hope you like it!**

The long lazy hills rose and fell outside the window as they moved by. A foreboding blue-gray sky seemed to swirl around them as if it knew the unspeakable place they were headed to, and was attracted to its malice. The insurmountable aura that seemed to radiate from their vicinity refused to cease, causing others to avoid them. Miles flew by like birds, but their speed was not nearly what it needed to be.

Infamous city of lights, wonders, and disappointments slowly came into view. Towering structures of steel rose from the ground, looming over all that dared come near. Second came the noise, hitting them like a tidal wave, making them reverberate down to their bones. Sheer panic was enveloping them, testing them, determining their resistance to the monstrosity called time.

"Ah!" they screamed at the same time. One was a boy of black hair and vibrant emerald eyes, and the other a girl with hair the color of bronze and light brown eyes. They had met years earlier, when they were in a life or death situation hundreds of miles below the surface of the Earth. However, I suppose before I tell you this story, I must recall the beginning.

Eight years had passed since the Prophecy of Time had come and gone, taking much with it in its wake. Six of these years, Lizzie and her family had spent in Virginia, following the death of their Grandma. Lizzie suffered, having lost first her friends, and then her Grandma, almost everyday. What kept her going all of these years was her brother, Gregor. He had suffered more than the rest of her family combined, but had tried his best to return to normal life. Seeing her brother work so hard had inspired Lizzie, causing her to excel in school, especially with math.

As of right now, she was driving down the old dirt road near the family farm. Lizzie had just gotten her permit, so Gregor was teaching her how to drive. "Ok now, you're doing good Liz," he said, smiling in the front seat. "Take the road on the left." Lizzie's gasped in shock. "But that's the—"

"You can do it! Have confidence in your skills!" her hands beginning to shake, Lizzie turned the wheel so they glided into the turn headed for the main road.

"Alright, good job. Take your foot off the gas and let the weight of the car slow you down." Lizzie did as she was told, and the vehicle eventually lost momentum. "Now break." Gregor directed. The old car came to a stop, right at the main road. Lizzie looked both ways, and turned left. "What do you need from the store, Gregor?" Lizzie asked. Gregor smiled and looked straight ahead, reclining with his hands behind his head, and feet on the dashboard. "Oh, whatever do you mean? I'm just trying to teach my sister how to drive!"

Lizzie smirked. "I'm not dumb, Gregor. And get your feet of the dash! I can't see my mirror with your legs in the way!" Chuckling, Gregor returned his feet to the floor. "Wow, you're no fun! Anyways, let's head to the corner store. I could sure use a slurpee right about now."

Five minutes later, they were in the parking lot of the closest Circle K. Gregor swung out of the car, landing softly on his feet. "You want anything?" he asked. Lizzie simply shook her head, conventionally getting out of the car. "You know, you should treat your car better, Gregor." Gregor shrugged, already walking to the store.

"Yeah, I guess."

Lizzie stood outside by the car, staring at the scenery around the station. Tall trees stood on either side of the road, allowing the road to snake through them. Careless driving could kill you on these roads, making Lizzie extra careful.

Not many people lived in this area of Virginia, thankfully. It made it that much easier to conceal their encounters with the Underland, especially for Gregor. School was the only drawback to that benefit, but they handled it with grace. They had only encountered trouble when Gregor had a fight in PE one day; when the other boy had ripped his shirt. Other than that, life was alright in Virginia; an Oasis away from New York, and namely, the Underland.

That was in the eyes of their parents though, and them alone. Gregor and Lizzie bore the brunt of the responsibility from the secrecy they were forced to keep. Boots was a different story, having forgotten the majority of the adventures and terrors of the Underland; as for the few memories that lasted, those were passed off as dreams. Lizzie knew what Gregor was going threw the most; but that wasn't saying much. He was in an entirely different situation than the rest of them. Occasionally, she would catch him daydreaming for long periods of time, most likely about the Underland.

"Hey Liz, you alright?" Lizzie heard her brother's voice, rippling through her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Lizzie said, opening her door. "Ready to go?" Gregor nodded. Starting the car up, Lizzie checked her surroundings and drove to the side of the road. Seeing no one within range, she revved up the gas and accelerated back towards their house. Everything was going smoothly, there was good music on the radio, the road was nice, and the weather was perfect. That was before a red bag of colored candy was thrown in front of her eyes, blocking her vision; a cackling Gregor saying, "Distraction!" while laughing his rear end off.

Lizzie screamed and almost swerved to the side of the road, but kept her cool, and stabilized the car. "Gregor!" she yelled. "What the hell!?" Gregor sat in his chair, clapping his hands and laughing harder than Grace did at Comedy Central.  
"Hey! There is no reason for that kind of— pfffffft!" Gregor tried and failed, still laughing hysterically. "I can't even say it with a straight face!"

The rest of the car ride was spent in utter silence, as Gregor had been stabbed with the daggers reaching through Lizzie's eyes.

It was about five when they rolled into the driveway, smelling the delicious dinner their mom had prepared for them that night. As they walked in the door, their father looked up from that morning's paper, eyebrows slightly raised through his small rectangular reading glasses. "Hey guys, where you been?"

"Well! Don't I have a story for- gah!" Gregor said, as he felt a heel slam into his toes.

"Just driving Daddy!" Lizzie said, almost skipping into her father's already occupied arms. "Ok princess, maybe you can give Gregor a few tips one of these days!"

"Woah now, I don't know about that!" Gregor said. "She'd have to reach the pedals first!"

"Why you!" Lizzie said, jumping at Gregor, which he swiftly avoided. Their acrobatics lasted about five seconds before Grace came in and declared dinner was ready. When they did not hear her, she added weight to her tone, which made everyone form a single file line to the dinner table.

Very little conversation was had that night during and after dinner, not really deviating from the norm. Lizzie just fell onto the couch and watched TV until about eleven, finally getting up and deciding she was ready for bed. It was the end of the school year; summer let out in less than a week. What little homework was assigned to her, Lizzie had already finished. Yawning, she banished school from her mind, and dragged her feet to her bedroom. Before she reached it, she encountered her brother.

Without saying a word, he picked her up and ran her outside without a sound, clamping her mouth shut so she couldn't cause any unneeded noise. He set her down in front of the barn about a hundred feet away from the house.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lizzie demanded, hands on her hips.

"Inviting you." Gregor said, a more serious tone than he had had in years. Eight years to be exact.

"On what?"

"A trip."

"To where." A breeze picked up, alerting Lizzie of what could be the only answer to that question.

"The Underland."

**Guys, please don't forget to review! Tell me anything you like; where you think I should go with it (Even though I already have a rough storyline), how you felt, what you liked/ didn't like, anything! I just want to see that people are reading my stories! Give me ten reviews and I will get the next chapter up by Sunday! Also, the Gregor's Choice hiatus is almost nearing halfway! Wow, time flies. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, chapter two is up for reading. These are only about 1500 word chapters, making it harder to move farther in them, but I can try and update more frequently as long as I know people are out there reading this. I explain how this is possible in the bottom, so please read it! Anyways, now for chapter two…**

Lizzie stood, in her pajamas outside next to the barn, mouth agape at what her brother just said.

"You what?" Lizzie asked.

"I'm going back to the Underland, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me."

Lizzie had to admit she was not that surprised. Her brother had invested everything down there, and was forced to leave it all behind. Of course he wanted to return; it wasn't that difficult to believe. It was just the fact that Lizzie had looked up at his determination to reintegrate himself back into the Overland. When everything seemed so hopeless, it was nice to see that he was still fighting his way back from a hole deeper than hers.

Even so, she asked, "Why do you want to go back? After all of your hard work here? Why waste it all?" Gregor looked out over the plains in Virginia, with want but an involuntary distaste.

"It's not where I belong." Lizzie stepped forward in protest, but was stopped short by his voice. "If you have killed someone, you can talk." Lizzie grimaced. He had her cornered; but he was right. It would be abnormal to not feel out of place that looks down on something, that in her brother's case, was phenomenal at. "I've killed things Lizzie. I'm a murderer who was born to be one. That's the place for people like me; down there, I can protect people! What use am I here, where all I can do to help them is stay on top of essentially just school work?"

Lizzie reached out a hand to her brother, who made no movement.

"Gregor, I'm not going to try to stop you. But I want you to at least answer my questions. Can you do that for me?" Gregor nodded.

"Sounds easy enough." He replied.

"What are you going to tell Mom and Dad?" Gregor pulled out a note from his inside jacket pocket. He had always loved those, ever since he had gotten one for Christmas when he was eight. "Where I am and why." He said. "Next?"

"Does it have something to do with Luxa?" Gregor hesitated visually before answering.

"Yes. I miss her. I miss her very much." Lizzie nodded. She had noticed they had something between them at the rock in Central Park when Gregor lingered around her. "At least he got to say goodbye…" she thought. Shaking her head to get the thoughts she vowed she wouldn't think about out, she spoke one last time.

"Last question." She said. "Why did you bother asking me to go? Wouldn't it be easier just to go on your own?" Gregor smiled, folding his strong arms across his chest. Ever since he had taken that Weight Training class he had been much stronger than when he was younger. So much so that he could carry both Lizzie and Boots at the same time.

Gregor smirked. "It's killing you, too." He answered. Walking over and lifting her chin up with his thumb and pointer finger, he finished. "What kind of big brother would I be if I let my little sister here to suffer all by herself?" Winking, he spun around on his heels, and started towards the house. "I'm leaving in thirty minutes. Pack up if you want to come or not."

Lizzie watched him for a second before giggling and scampering after him to catch up.

That was Gregor, always looking out for everybody but himself. His wink had been his signal to her for years, as if he was saying, "Don't worry, Liz. I got your back."

As she caught up to him, she clung on to his left arm, another one of their traditions. "Okay, I'm in. How are we going to get there?" she asked. Gregor jingled the keys to his car. "How confident are you driving?" he said, a mischievous grin laughing back down at her. Lizzie's eyes lit up with excitement. "Yes!" she exclaimed in a muffled voice, remembering that they were trying to be covert, but her brother was being so nice to her, and always had been since their return to the Underland.

Fifteen hushed minutes passed in the house, gathering all the supplies that they would need to get to Regalia; both in the Underland and the Overland. These various supplies included things like extra clothes, food, water, and money. Gregor wanted to bring a flashlight just in case, though Lizzie protested against it. "Ripred didn't teach you that for nothing." She thought, pouting.

Finally, everything was compiled into two backpacks, one for each of the siblings. They each had two water bottles, one set of clothes, a few bags of snacks, and twenty bucks each. Lizzie had both flashlights, as Gregor wouldn't be needing one anytime soon.

"You ready Liz?" Gregor said, looking over at her from in front of the car. She nodded. "Alright, let's roll."

Gregor threw Lizzie the keys which she caught before sliding in to the old driver's seat, putting the keys in the ignition. After they both put on there seatbelts (Gregor was pretty serious about that for some reason), Lizzie started the car as quiet as she could. The engine slowly revved to life, the headlights turning on as well. Since the car was parked outside, it would be pretty easy to get out unnoticed.

However, Gregor and Lizzie were forgetting one of the most important laws of life: Murphy's Law. For those of you that do not know what Murphy's Law is, it is an old saying; a correct one, or more so, easy to follow, or expect, depending on your exact standpoint. It dictates, basically, that what can go wrong, will go wrong. Therefore, if you haven't realized it yet, or maybe, I haven't given you enough time to, Gregor and Lizzie do not get out of the drive unnoticed.

To first understand the reason's for this major misfortune for our protagonists, you must first understand that it has been seven years since their departure from the Underland. That means, from a pretty simple level of math, Gregor is nineteen, Lizzie is fifteen, and Boots is ten. I know this may sound shocking to some people, but we were all ten once. Since, by the inevitability that all of us, if it is assumed we have a normal lifespan, all are for one year, the age of ten, we can all remember our days as mischievous little ten year olds.

Boots was no different. Well, yes, actually, she was. I lied. She had been to the closest debatable place to Hell on Earth, crossed hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles with creatures thought not to exist, almost died a handful of times, and learned another language of an indigenous species, all by age three. Maybe it was because of her days down in the Underland, with Hazard and Temp, that she developed an extreme love of something most ten year olds do: pranks.

Boots, bless her soul, fell in love with one prank in particular. The classic whoopee cushion. It had been Gregor's nightmare when he made the mistake of making that a tenth birthday present, starting her whole insatiable infatuation with these pranks. It did indeed get old, unbelievably fast. She would normally get Gregor, on average, three times a day. It was really obvious when she set it out, but Gregor had to sit on it, otherwise she would start to pout.

Anyways, in my long winded sarcastic explanation, I guess, reader, what I am trying to say, is that Lizzie ran over Boot's whoopee cushion, causing a loud pop, thus waking everything with a heartbeat from their peaceful slumber to a tired, cranky (if you will) state. Gregor immediately got out of the car, beckoning that Lizzie do so too. In a mad rush, they pushed the car back to where it was, turned it off, and threw the backpacks in the back seat. Gregor motioned that Lizzie run inside. She obediently followed what her brother said, ruffling up her hair, and slipping into a more pajama type outfit.

Gregor's Dad came out of his room, where a very unhappy Grace refused to get up. When he got outside, still mid yawn, he found his son cleaning up the remnants of what used to be his sister's whoopee cushion. "Gregor?" his Dad asked. "What are you doing, Son?" Gregor looked up, apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to step on it. I was just about to come inside to go to bed." His Dad gave him an unsure look. "Why were you out here in the first place?" Gregor made his eyes look as tired as possible. "Couldn't sleep." His Dad nodded.

"Okay, Gregor. After you're done cleaning that up, come inside and go to bed. Maybe you can still get some sleep tonight." Gregor nodded.

Once Gregor was done, he went into Lizzie's room, and whispered, "Let's wait an hour. They should be sound asleep by then." Lizzie nodded, and began to read. She had a small light that attached to the cover of the book, holding a light above the pages. It was a great thing to have when she couldn't sleep.

One long, torturous hour later, the siblings got up, and once again tried to leave their house. This time, they were successful, pulling out on to the main road with ease. Gregor helped direct Lizzie through the interstate roads with an old book of maps his Dad always put in any car they had, just in case. By the distance, it was going to be about an eight hour trip. Gregor told Lizzie he would take over after they left the City, since she was pretty tired, and inexperienced anyway.

"It's okay, Liz." Gregor said in a soft voice. "I'll take it from here." With that, Lizzie let her eyes drift shut, the beautiful dark oblivion taking over her consciousness once again.

**I almost wrote more, but I think this is a decent place to leave off. Anyways, please don't forget to review, however many of you that are out there. Let me know that I'm not just writing for Jedi1 here. Speaking of which, thank you, Jedi1 for motivating me to write this chapter, and for being a constant reviewer. I appreciate it so much! **


	3. Chapter 3

Hazard lay in bed, holding a book above his head. It was an Overland play, one by the name of "Hamlet". He was at his favorite part in the "Soliloquy" the book called it, of Hamlet, the main character.

Hazard had read this so many times, even during his lessons, often upsetting his teachers.

He could not help it; the book was a masterpiece, and his treasure. Hazard never would have come in contact with this book if it had not been for Luxa. Even after becoming Queen, Luxa always made time to talk to Hazard, even if only for a few minutes. Around six months ago, Luxa had taken him to the museum to 'peruse' she had called it, things from the Overland. Hazard had really enjoyed looking through things he had yet to understand.

At first, Hazard found it something completely for his benefit; but, as he began to notice, Luxa had a certain aura around her when they made these little trips. It was really strange, it seemed like she was longing for something; something out of her reach. Normally, Luxa would work until she collapsed from fatigue if something was attainable. Why hadn't she done it for this?

Abruptly shutting his book, Hazard said words that always calmed him down.

"_To be or not to be, that is the question…_

_Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer_

_The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune—"_

"Or to take arms against a sea of troubles," A voice interjected.

"And by opposing end them?"

Hazard smiled before he turned to the entrance of his room.

There stood his cousin, Luxa, Queen of Regalia. She was dressed in an elegant purple dress, accentuating her frame. On top of her head was a tiara, silver and sparkling in the torchlight. Topping it all off, she was smiling her cocky half smile, showing brilliant white teeth.

"You have already memorized the soliloquy?" Luxa asked. "That's impressive, even for you." Hazard laughed.

"I have so much time on my hands, Luxa. It gives me something to busy myself with."

Luxa chuckled, catching Hazard in a headlock and rubbing her knuckles on his head, messing up his hair.

"Oh, is that so? Maybe I should have Ripred come and fix that? You know how much he likes to 'teach'!"

Hazard tried, laughing, to get out of Luxa's grip, but failed miserably.

"N-No! I don't have _that_ much free time, Luxa!"

Luxa let go, laughing. "Who knows, Hazard? Maybe you can be his protégé?"

Hazard gave Luxa a sarcastic look. "Is that so? Maybe if I wanted to hear all of the old love stories between you and Gregor—"

Once Hazard said the name 'Gregor', Luxa immediately stopped laughing and looked at him in surprise.

Hazard noticed this, and looked at his cousin curiously.

"Luxa?" he asked. "Did I say something wrong?" This jarred Luxa out of her current state, and she answered,

"No, no, you said nothing wrong." Luxa sat on his bed, and, supporting herself using her arms, craned her head to stare at the ceiling.

Hazard knew she wasn't being completely honest with him, so he mimicked her and looked at the ceiling.

"You miss him, don't you?" he asked softly, not shifting his gaze. Luxa didn't reply, silently biting her lip.

"It's fine if you tell me, Luxa. Even the prodigious Queen needs a confidant."

Luxa pursed her lips, and sighed. She inhaled as if she was going to say something, but reconsidered.

Finally, she replied,

"Prodigious Queen? I do not feel that way. It does not make a difference if I am or not anyways; there are things that need to be taken care of, and I find myself addressing them. In the end, I do not suppose it matters what I want, as long as I can fulfill these issues as they need be."

Hazard thought of the meaning behind these words, and his cousin's will to not confide in him. "She's still waiting for him." Hazard thought. "She's still waiting for Gregor to come back." An event like the Warrior's return is unprecedented, and as for Luxa…

"What would you do if he came back?" Hazard asked, quickly glancing at Luxa. Her expression didn't change.

"I would do nothing. It is up to the citizens of Regalia as to how we should welcome the return of the Warrior, if at all."

"Do you not care for him?" Hazard asked. He realized how blatantly the question was, and was going to apologize, but Luxa interrupted him.

"I do not know him."

"But, didn't you—"

"Hazard, I did not meet him under normal circumstances, and did not come to know him under normal circumstances. How am I to know who he is, if I know him only under terrible events?"

"Well—"

"The relationship we had was meaningless; it was only in the mutual need of the time. Had there been something other than that, we would have kept contact through these years."

"Luxa, may I—"

"As for that—"

"Luxa!" Hazard said sternly. The sudden change of tone threw the Queen of guard, and gave Hazard the chance he needed.

"Have you ever considered that he _couldn't_ come back?" Hazard asked.

"Luxa, Gregor cared for you greatly, he would have definitely—"

"I refuse to discuss this with you further. Good night, Hazard." Luxa got up off Hazard's bed, and quietly stormed out of the room.

Hazard could have sworn he saw a tear fly off of Luxa's face.

(Lizzie)

It was the falsetto of the radio that woke Lizzie up, not the loud honks and blaring of commercial ads that echoed through the tightly packed skyscrapers. Yawning and stretching her arms, Lizzie sat up from her reclined seat. The blanket her brother had put over her slid off, bunching up on her lap. When she rubbed the blur out of her eyes, she looked around at her surroundings. They were at a convenience store just outside New York City.

Lizzie was about to yawn again when a tapping came off the glass, startling her. When she finished coughing, she saw a mildly confused Gregor with two thirst busters and a bag of Doritos clenched between his teeth, along with a couple bags held on his elbows.

She opened her door, and stood up. The smell of slushees and Doritos hit her, and made her chuckle.

"What?" Gregor asked, through the bag of Doritos. "Is there something on my face?" After he went cross eyed, Lizzie couldn't hold it back anymore. She howled with laughter, and ripped the bag of Doritos out of his teeth.

"Come on, let's go. We aren't going to get to Regalia just standing here." Lizzie said, plopping back in to her seat.

"Hey, isn't it your turn to drive?" Gregor asked, walking around to the driver's side.

"Until you bought Doritos." Lizzie responded, crunching in to the orange chip.

"Now let's go." Gregor sighed dejectedly before getting in the car. When Gregor sat down and put a few bags in the back, Lizzie couldn't help but ask,

"What's in the bag?" Gregor chuckled.

"I thought I would bring some souvenirs for our friends."

Looking through the bags, Lizzie found bags of chips, chocolate, two twelve packs of soda, and lots of candy. There was enough food for a picnic! However, there was one item that stood out amongst the others.

"A New York snow globe? What's this for?" Lizzie asked, although she could guess.

"It's for Luxa." Gregor said, his tone sobering up.

"Oh." Lizzie responded. "Let's, um, let's go. We have a while until we get to the apartment building." Gregor nodded, and drove off.

After hours of weaving in and out of New York traffic, Gregor finally pulled in to the parking lot of their old apartment building. The place was still tattered and maltreated as it was since they had last been there; the only new thing being additional rust.

Getting out of the car, the siblings grabbed all of the groceries from the convenience store along with all of there things, and packed them into backpacks Gregor pulled out of the backseat. Gregor ended up carrying the brunt of everything, consisting of the two cases of soda and the candy, whereas Lizzie took the chips.

They somehow managed to fit all of their other possessions from Virginia into the packs too, filling them to the brim. Gregor pulled out his iPod, and his makeshift battery charger, along with an enormous pack of double A batteries. Stuffing the batteries in his pack, he selected a song by his favorite band, and turned off the screen. He would play it when he went through the grate in the little basement laundry room.

Now, everything they had on there backs, the siblings, who, after eight years, dreamed of this day, walked back in to that old and rusting apartment building, where they lived most of their lives, down to the Laundry Room; the entrance to their true home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry guys, I know I'm a bit off schedule. Still getting back into the hang of things after such a long hiatus; I promise I'll be more avid about updating. Because of this, I'm probably just going to start updating on Saturdays, so I can have a bit more time to go over what I want to do. **

**Don't think I'll be naming chapters for this story. **

The pair floated down, cradled by the currents; the mist still accented the waves, and allowed them to make their encore to this grim world of darkness and firelight.

Gregor used his somewhat rusty echolocation skills to get them down the familiar winding tunnels that he ran with the cockroaches when he first arrived. It seemed like a lifetime ago, making Gregor feel almost as old as Vikus.

"Wait—" Lizzie huffed, pulling her brother to a stop. "I need a break." Gregor observed his little sister.

She really did need a break! Her wheezing was audible, and her face was as red as a tomato. "Ok." Gregor said, patting her on the shoulder. "Come on, there's a rock shelf over here." Lizzie nodded. She was breathing a little easier now; hopefully she could catch her breath quickly so they could get to Regalia as soon as possible.

The abrupt movement from the tunnel caught Gregor's senses, and he jerked his head that way. Even Lizzie noticed her brother's sudden movement, looking up at him in worry. "Gregor?" She asked carefully. "What's wrong?"

In response, Gregor jumped up, shielding Lizzie with an arm.

"Come out." He ordered sternly. "I'm not here to fight." When nothing happened, Lizzie thought that maybe her brother had finally fallen off his rocker. She was just about to speak up about her, "Are you sure you're okay?" speech, when an armored Underlander on a bat emerged from the shadows, having just lit a torch.

The Underlander was average for a Regalian soldier; visible muscles, sword at his left side, and short military style hair. His bat was a very pale white black, and it looked like it had a blue tint to the edge of its fur.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" The guard asked, with an authoritative tone.

Gregor nudged Lizzie with a grin on his face. "Wait for it." He whispered.

Sure enough, the guard inexplicably broke out a dumbstruck face, having just recognized the Warrior.

"T-T-The Warrior?" He exclaimed, not believing what he was saying. "I thought you returned to the Overland!" His bat was silently chuckling. "What is it, Mira?"

"Did you honestly think he would not return?" The smooth, feminine purr rolled off her tongue. Then, looking to Gregor, asked, "You had an affectionate relationship with the Queen, yes?"

Lizzie thought the look on Gregor's face could make even Boots laugh during one of her childhood tantrums.

"Well, uh—" Gregor said, glancing at Lizzie, begging for back up.

"Yeah, he did." Lizzie said simply, making everyone but Mira look at her in some version of surprise.

"You should have seen the two of them, Mira." Lizzie continued, enjoying the look of abject terror on her brother's face. "It's like they were interdependent, always clinging to each other each chance they had!" Mira did a huh-huh-huh bat laugh.

"I believe I saw them once in the Palace when I passed by the Code Room and happened to glance in when they were in the rat room…"

"Anyways!" Gregor said obnoxiously. "Can you guys get us in to the city? My sister can't run to save her life, and we might be caught by a less than perceptive guard." Mira looked to her bond for confirmation. "Don't worry, Madrias. I'm sure there is not a precedent for this."

Madrias thought it over, and, eventually, agreed. They all hopped on Mira and jetted off to the wall after putting out the torch. Before they took off, Gregor grabbed Lizzie and gave her a noogie. "Ow!" she exclaimed. "What was that for?!" Gregor looked at her, mischievously. "Payback!" he said, before vaulting on to Mira's back.

(Hazard POV)

The horns rang through the stone city, and all activities were interrupted. Regalians, anywhere they were, looked to the Arena, or the Southern Gate, the source of the noise. There was indeed a squadron of soldiers flying to the wall at the sound of the horns, to back up those there. After the war of time, the defense for the walls had been steadily increased until it was considered 'socially optimum' by a few generals.

Hazard had been in the High Hall having lunch with Luxa and Aurora and Cyrus, his gray bond to be. It was, indeed, a very rare occurrence to be having lunch with Luxa and Aurora for Hazard; it only happened around once a month when Luxa's training schedule coincided with Hazard's lesson breaks. Of course, it was the one time they were actually relaxing from their daily routine when those horns went off.

Even Luxa's blood ran cold, fearing the possibilities of what those horns could possibly mean. She bolted up from the table, and saying, "Aurora!" she ran to the edge of the balcony and threw herself off, Aurora costing under her and jetting off to the Arena.

Hazard looked at Cyrus. "Do you think we should go too?" he asked. Cyrus nodded slyly. "I think we should. If it is any trouble, we can warn people to arm themselves in case they break the defense." Hazard nodded. It was a good enough excuse for him.

"Let's go!" Hazard exclaimed, running to the edge of the balcony and turning around at the last second, letting his momentum pull him off the edge. He heard Cyrus laugh his weird bat laugh; Cyrus screamed past Hazard and pulled him out of his dive, and used the momentum to carry them all the way to the arena.

When they finally got there, Hazard saw something very… odd. Nothing was happening, everyone was just standing at the edge of the wall. Cyrus coasted down next to Luxa and Aurora, who gave them stern looks, but said nothing.

"What's going on?" Hazard whispered to Luxa.

"There are people approaching through the cavern." Luxa whispered back.

"There are four in total, and two of them are the guard duo of Mira and Madrias." Aurora added.

"The guards posted here have tried to make contact with Mira, but she hasn't responded at all to anyone."

Luxa spoke again, "That being said, we can see her flying the three humans on her back, but we do not know if she is being threatened or Madrias is being held hostage."

"You do not wish to do something so rash that they would be put in danger." Hazard confirmed, to which Luxa nodded affirmative.

"As of this moment, we are just waiting out the time until they arrive here, and then we will take action." Hazard looked to Cyrus.

"How long do you think that will be?" he asked. After calculating for a few seconds, Cyrus replied, "Right about now."

Just as he said, a pale white bat, that looked nearly blue, flew in out of the dark tunnel, and up to the top of the wall, where she landed amongst lots of soldiers drawing their swords. When all of the soldiers rushed to surround the intruders, there were audible gasps escaping from some of the more veteran soldiers.

"It's like they've seen a ghost!" Hazard mumbled under his breath. "Let's go check it out." He said to Cyrus. Hazard was about to look to Luxa, but she was already weaving her way through to the center of commotion. So when Hazard saw her eyes fly open in shock, he pushed through the crowd to get to the center. Finally, when he did, he saw someone he never thought he would see again.

"Gregor?!" Hazard exclaimed. When Gregor moved over, Hazard saw another un-pale human not native to the Underland. When Hazard saw her, he felt his heart start throbbing like it was going to pound out of his chest. Hazard felt his mouth go dry, and had to wait a few seconds before he gained the moisture and the courage to utter out, "Lizzie?"

**Well, I hope you liked it! Again, I'm really sorry for it being so late, I will be working hard to deliver the chapters on time like I used to! I wanted to ask you guys about a few things, but since very few of you probably continue to the author's note, it will have to be kept to those few. How long should this story be? I already have a few storyboards from it, each with a varying amount of 'stuff' shall we call it (get your minds out of the gutter), so I wanted to leave the duration up to you. Let me know! **

**Please don't forget to review, and please, if Gregor's Choice doesn't come out exactly when scheduled, please give me a little bit of time. I'm seriously exhausted. I don't want to sound whiny but I only have three hours of sleep last night, and I have no coffee at my house. It is slowly eating away at my soul. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Again, guys, I apologize for not updating on time. I didn't have any internet where I was, so it's very frustrating that I keep missing my deadlines. It's really starting to grate on my nerves. Anyways, before I start discussing emotional 'trauma', why don't I stop talking and introduce Chapter Five? **

**I lied. Don't forget to review! Okay, I think I am done now. **

(Lizzie's POV)

When Mira landed on the Wall, Lizzie couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu, being back in Regalia. The ancient city seemed eerily welcoming; so much different than when she first arrived seven years ago.

They were quickly surrounded by the guards on the wall, and there was an envoy of bats and soldiers already heading their way.

Hearing Gregor sigh in exasperation, Lizzie laughed in understanding. It was surprising that Regalians, soldiers especially, would not remember them after the War of Time.

"Frustrating, isn't it?" her brother elbowed her playfully. "You break a code, I kill an enormous white rat, we end the War that was supposed to annihilate them, and they still can't remember you!" Lizzie broke out and laughed, pushing aside the slightly angry feelings towards the Underlanders.

Some scuffling attracted their attention, to see a girl with flowing silver hair moving her way through the circle of guards surrounding them.

She was kind of tall, around five eight, and her hair reached down to around the bottom of her shoulder blades. She was about Gregor's age, and had a dignified aura around her; Lizzie could immediately tell that this girl was very smart, and not someone Lizzie wanted to mess with.

But the shocked expression on the girls face when she saw them, that look of surprise reminded Lizzie that she knew this girl.

"Luxa," Gregor said, taking her in. "Long time no see." Luxa didn't respond, still reeling from the fact that her and Gregor were back in Regalia, after they supposedly left forever.

Lizzie considered speaking up, and maybe starting a conversation that would let them go back to the Palace, but decided against it. These two had been apart the greater part of a decade; she would let them have their time, for now.

"Lizzie?" someone said, causing her to turn to the source of the sound. It wasn't Luxa, she was still staring at Gregor. "Jeez," Lizzie thought, still looking for who called her name. "Get a room you guys." Finally, her eyes landed on a boy with jet black hair. Lizzie's initial thought was that there was another Overlander here; one that knew her from school. Then she saw the boy's pale skin, and sea green eyes.

"Oh no." Lizzie thought, feeling a slight heat rush to her face. "Hazard?" she said.

Thankfully for all four of them, someone interrupted the awkward silence.

"What are we all doing sitting around gawking at each other for?" Ripred said, successfully becoming the center of attention. Breaking through the crowd, he saw Gregor and Lizzie, and was taken back a bit.

"Oh, well what do you know?" Ripred said, after recovering. "The Warrior is back, yippee. But you brought your sister!"

"Ripred!" Lizzie exclaimed, throwing her arms around the rat. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know," Ripred said, carefully embracing the fragile girl. Really, she needed to eat more seafood. "Just getting by. That's about the best you can do with them around."

"Them?" Lizzie asked, confused.

"The humans." Ripred said, motioning his muzzle towards Luxa. "They're very difficult to get along with. Luxa glared fiercely at Ripred.

"We are difficult to get along with?" she said, voice challenging. "You are the ones who refuse to reasonable!"

Lizzie laughed awkwardly, trying to remind them that her and Gregor were back. She had hope that this would stop their bickering until she knew enough to prove them both wrong, but they were more stubborn then she remembered.

"What you count as reasonable, your highness," Ripred countered. "Is not nearly substantial for what we need!"

Luxa was about to argue back, when Gregor put his arm in front of her, getting in between the bonded delegates.

"Hey!" Gregor said in a reproaching tone. "Can we at least solve this over dinner? I'm starving!"

After the unexpected excuse, Gregor ushered everyone on bats.

"Ripred, meet us there, will you?"

"I'll actually be flying with you, if you haven't risen above the likes of me." Ripred responded. "This is Atlas." Ripred introduced, gesturing to the gigantic brown bat now standing behind him. "He's my chauffer when I'm in Regalia. So much different than before, wouldn't you say?" Gregor nodded to the bat, who covertly nodded back.

"Whatever, as long as you aren't late for dinner. Besides, it looks like you are finally in capable hands."

Gregor hopped up behind Luxa on Aurora, and they flew off to the Palace.

Lizzie laughed inwardly at her brother's honest excuse for breaking up the argument. It was so typical of him to he so friendly in a difficult situation. It made it almost impossible to go after him for interrupting.

"Well," Ripred said. "You two might as well head to the Palace after those kids. It may not seem like it, but they are pretty bash when they are alone. Go keep an eye on them for me while I run some errands, will you?"

Not even leaving them a chance to respond, Ripred nodded to Atlas, and jumped off the wall, gaining pretty good distance with the limited running start he had.

Lizzie and Hazard stood awkwardly next to each other, looking opposite ways. The guards had dispersed after Ripred left, leaving the two teenagers unattended, and very uncomfortable.

"So, um, Hazard?" Lizzie said, trying to break the ice. "Should we go? Ripred's right; we should keep an eye on those two."

"Y-Yeah." Hazard responded, finding an immediate interest in his sandals. "Let's go."

Hazard led the way back to Cyrus, with Lizzie following shyly behind him. One soldier noticed the situation, and chuckled at how obvious their feelings were, to everyone but themselves.

"Hey, Cyrus." Hazard said to his friend. "This is Lizzie. She's Gregor's younger sister."

Cyrus nodded in understanding. "Yes, right, well… who is Gregor?"

After face palming, Hazard replied, "The Warrior, you know, the one that killed the Bane?"

"Oh yes! Yes indeed. Okay, I understand the situation now. So are you two…?"

"What do you mean?" Hazard asked, honestly not getting the implication.

"Ah, never mind." Cyrus said. "I suppose it would be wrong if you guys were intimate."

Lizzie couldn't hold back the raging blush behind her cheeks, and neither could Hazard, even though his was way more noticeable. They stood there, embarrassed, until Cyrus said, "We should probably follow them, don't you think? It doesn't seem standing here would be the best way to spend the time before dinner."

The two teens nodded, and mounted the bat. Lizzie's hard beat went up when Hazard had to help her up on to Cyrus; actually coming in contact with him.

None of them spoke a word their entire trip back to the Palace.

**Okay guys, I hoped you liked it. Sorry it took so long to post this. The next time I leave, I will try and update earlier, so there is not such a long break in chapters. On another note, I think I have an idea of how long this story will be. I'm trying to make it so it's not long, but has a decent amount of detail, so it won't be cut and dry. Well, that is about all I have for right now. I'm going to try and post again Sunday, and then the updates will go back to the Thursday, Friday area. For those of you that read Gregor's Choice as well as this, the updates will stick to the Saturday, Sunday area. I will talk to all of you soon! Don't forget to review!**


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